Monsanto offers fungal coating for corn

ST. LOUIS — Monsanto Co. is introducing a new feature next year for its genetically modified corn seeds that it says will not only improve yields but also cut down on fertilizer use and carbon-dioxide emissions.

The seed giant, together with Danish company Novozymes A/S, has developed a coating for seeds made from a friendly fungus that helps corn plants in their earliest growth stages.

St. Louis-based Monsanto, which earlier this year agreed to be acquired by Germany’s Bayer AG, is hailing the product as a breakthrough for microbial technology, in which scientists look to fungi and other organisms such as bacteria to help farmers.

Corn crops treated with the new Monsanto-Novozymes microbial — officially known as Acceleron B-300 SAT — had better yields than those without the treatment, the companies said in a statement Monday. The product stays on seeds longer and is compatible with other chemical treatments, unlike previous versions.

The seed treatment could “become one of the biggest biological products in the ag industry,” said Colin Bletsky, vice president for Novozymes’ BioAg unit. “Harnessing the power of nature’s microbes, farmers will be able to produce more crops.”

The agricultural microbial market currently has about $1.8 billion in sales, while the market for traditional chemicals and pesticides is valued at about $240 billion, Combest said.